Can a genetic test really boost your odds of becoming pregnant?
“Take charge of your biological clock,” the invitation urged.
It beckoned women to an evening seminar in Manhattan. There, they received a coupon for the latest in fertility management: a genetic test marketed as a way to help maximize their chances of becoming pregnant.
The hitch: Top reproductive endocrinologists point out that there’s no evidence the $950 DNA test can actually help women conceive. And even the company’s founder and CEO acknowledges the test can’t provide clear and definitive answers on which treatments women should try next if they’re struggling with infertility.
The Fertilome test hit the market at the start of this year and the company behind it, Celmatix, said more than 50 doctors have already ordered it for hundreds of women seeking scientific guidance on questions such as whether they should freeze their eggs for future use, or whether it’s worth it to try another round of in vitro fertilization. The Celmatix CEO, Piraye Yurttas Beim, said her team has heard of a small wave of “Fertilome babies” on the way.
Some reproductive specialists are enthusiastic. But others caution that Fertilome is just the latest promising more than it can deliver — and, in this case, playing to the that claims to tell women how their DNA could influence the level of a beneficial fatty acid in their breast milk.)
